-The Business Standard   Millet is not only a rich source of nutrition but also mitigates climate change. It's time it was treated on a par with wheat and rice Dubbed by the health-savvy as nutri-grains, millet has been the victim of uncalled-for neglect. It has gradually been eased out of farmers' fields as well as from consumers' menu because of ill-advised procurement and price support policies. Even those who traditionally consumed millet,...

-The Hindu Business Line     A set of technologies that deals with production and marketing constraints can work wonders Indian agriculture faces herculean challenges today; yet, the near- and the medium-term outlook on agriculture and agri-businesses seem bright. Growing urbanisation and changing food habits, malnutrition plus declining areas under foodgrain pose a big threat to food security. Agriculture and food production are strongly influenced by international trade, credit availability, development co-operation, climate change and environmental...

-The Hindustan Times     For India, the monsoon is more than just a cool respite: It's the economy's life-blood. It's a long expedition nature undertakes each year. Drafts of early-summer breeze in from the southern Pacific stream northwards, preparing to travel more than 8,000 km to reach Asia in time and picking up moisture on the way. If the Pacific winds are one essential ingredient of a perfect monsoon, the Indian...

-The Business Standard     They were unimpressed by the UPA's misguided socialism, but they worry about the new regime's free-market orientation too Consider this paradox. The Congress Party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was decimated in the elections in spite of several years of good monsoon and rising agricultural production. Consider another paradox. This was the regime that implemented policies that were presumed to be pro-farmer: the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the...

-Deccan Chronicle   New Delhi: Seeking to turnaround the agriculture sector, the Centre is likely to make a major shift in restructuring schemes to focus on small and marginal farmers. The Union agriculture ministry is also seeking to replicate the Gujrat and Madhya Pradesh models in giving a major push to the agricultural growth, which has remain at below four per cent level in the recent years. The likely change in the agriculture policy...